Albion swimmers will be part of invitational Saturday to raise funds to fight childhood cancer

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 December 2017 at 11:57 am

Photo by Tom Rivers: Albion swim coaches Jay Kovaleski, left, and Carlos Burroughs will lead the swim team during a “Laps for Life” swimming invitational on Saturday at the Webster Aquatic Center.

ALBION – The Albion swim teams will be part of the seventh annual “Laps for Life” invitational on Saturday. There will be eight schools participating with a goal to raise $2,500 for Make Some Noise, a pediatric cancer research foundation.

Laps for Life has been held at Spencerport but is moving to the Webster Aquatic Center on Saturday.

Jay and his wife, Kelly, are leaders of Make Some Noise in Western New York.

Their son Nicholas Kovaleski battled leukemia and passed away at age 15 on June 29, 2011. Nicholas excelled at football, swimming and tennis when he was a student at Albion.

His father said there is a family network among swimmers, including from other schools. Laps for Life builds on those strong connections, he said.

The swimmers raise money through T-shirts and concessions sales, as well as sponsorships.

Albion swim team is led by head coach Carlos Burroughs. His daughter, Lauren, is married to Kovaleski’s son, Thomas.

Kovaleski said more research funding and attention needs to go to childhood cancers. About 50 children a week die of cancer in the United States, making it the leading cause of death for children in the country.

Make Some Noise said only 3 percent of cancer research funding goes to kids’ cancer research.